Trustees want regulation rescinded

Regulation change

File photo by Bryon Johnson

Peel District School Board Chair Janet McDougald will write a letter to the provincial government on behalf of the board requesting the Liberals shelve new regulations controlling how supply teachers would be hired to fill permanent positions.

Public school board trustees have agreed to write a letter requesting the provincial government shelve new regulations controlling how supply teachers would be hired to fill permanent positions.
Peel District School Board trustees agreed to join other school boards asking the Liberal government to rescind Regulation 274/12. The regulation was incorporated in the government’s controversial Memorandum of Understanding signed with the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA) and Bill 115, which place wage freezes, other fiscal restraints and administrative guidelines on Ontario school boards and their employees.
Many school boards have formally lodged their opposition to the administrative edict they believe restricts the ability of principals to use professional judgement in hiring teachers that best fit specific job openings.
According to school boards, the regulation forces them to hire supply teachers for permanent job openings based primarily on an applicant’s teaching seniority.
In its submission to the government committee hearing stakeholder comments on Bill 115, prior to the legislation’s passing, the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association (OPSBA) recorded its opposition on behalf of Peel board and other members of the organization.
“New teachers are hired based on qualifications and experience, not by the amount of time they have worked as an occasional teacher,” the association told the Standing Committee on Social Policy. “The objective is to hire the best qualified applicant.”
Such restraints on hiring may impede a board’s efforts to ensure that teachers collectively reflect their diverse communities, the association said. Ontario school board trustees have also warned the practice could hurt student achievement.
“I think it would be important that Peel join other school boards in asking for the rescission of this (regulation),” Peel Board Chair Janet McDougald said at a recent board meeting.